president obama officially supports same sex marriage. hear what republican presidential candidate mitt romney has to say. and a popular bar is back open in towson. i'm linda so, the grand reopening that's scheduled for later this morning at the charles village pub. and maryland lawmakers getting ready to go second -- into the second rounds hashing out the budget. what top democrats say taxpayers should expected to see. let's take a live look at the camera at the inner harbor on this thursday, may 10th. thank you for joining us this morning, i'm megan pringle. >> and i'm charlie crowson. let's get right over to meteorologist lynette charms because the soggy day on wednesday, is the sun ever going to examine back out?

>> it is and if it was tomorrow i'd sing the annie song but it's today and i can't do that. maryland's most powerful radar's as of now and not a whole lot. we had some rain push through earlier today charlie but now going to the east. out into the atlantic. and what we're left with, well we have some patchy fog out there and i'm going to show you the numbers just a minute. but temperature 53 degrees in churchville. or 52. aberdeen at 53 degrees and look at chunkville about 1.25-inches of rain. that's definitely some good news we can talk about. visibility six miles right now in baltimore. and four many easton. these numbers have been holding steady all morning long and we'll see if they go up or down but we want to get to the 10s we're seeing in frederick, york, hagerstown and winchester. let's get a check now of the traffic with lauren. and lauren, we do have a little bit of patchy fog, is that affecting the roads this morning? yes, well lynette is a good morning to turn on the low beams and we have trouble on

the j 2:00. an accident southbound at st. paul street less than a mill away from the construction going on. blocking one lane in both directions right near 28th street. so falls road definitely not a bad option if you are heading into the city this morning. no problems to talk about traveling through the fort mchenry tunnel. harbor tunnel also going to be clear. and if you are traveling on 695, here's a live look at the northwest corner at old court road. no problems whatsoever. you're looking at a very easy 11 minute ride on that outer loop from 795 down towards 95. and it's only going to take you nine minutes right now to travel that outer loop on that east side from 95 up towards 83. that's a welcome at your abc2 timesaver traffic. megan and charlie, back over to you. two minutes after 6:00 right now. president obama announced he's changed his midnight about same sex marriages that he once opposed them. >> he later went on in 2010 to say the views were quote evolving and now taking the next step and abc2 news'

sherrie johnson is here to talk about the controversial issue. >> reporter: he's the first sitting u.s. president to take a stand in support of same sex marriage. the decision will likely spark a debate in the november elections. in an exclusive interview he announced he had reversed his opposition on this issue. the president says he still believes that states should decide how to handle the issue but he's confident americans will grow more confidentable with same sex marriage. right now 30 states have constitutional amendments or laws banning same sex marriage. americans have also evolved on the issue in support for gay marriage has risen sharply nationwide. >> at a certain point i've just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same sex couples should be able to get married. >> i believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. this is a very tender and

sensitive topic. as are many special issues but i have the same view that i've had since -- well, since running for office. [ applause ] >> reporter: now the president's announcement comes after north carolina voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. also stay tuned for "good morning america" at 7:00 a.m. for robin roberts' exclusive interview with the president. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. president obama's announcement that he now supports same sex marriage brought swift reaction from marylanders for marriage equality. the group of the center of the push to pass same sex marriage in annapolis brought something less than surprise from the maryland alliance. take a listen. >> many people are going to have to search deep within and try and figure out do they still support the president and vote for him, or do they not support him and not vote for him? it just showed the president is a real person. >> and you know he took his time to come out you know and

take a stance because he went back and forth with it just a like a lot of voters are doing right now. >> opponents of the same sex marriage bill here in maryland say they have already gathered more than 30,000 signatures towards getting a referendum on the ballot in november. they need more than 55,000 signatures by june 19th. a lot of people are weighing in on president obama's announcement that he spottings same sex marriage. anita writes in for example -- larry weighs in saying -- and chris writes into us saying -- >> to read comments or leave your own, head to the facebook fan page. other news this morning. today jury deliberations continue in the trial of a consultant accused of using robo calls to suppress black

turnout. henson worked for ehrlich during the rematch with governor o'malley. henson is charged with attempting to influence voters' decision whether to go to the moms through the use of fraud. the na acp has an outreach effort. it's called the this is my vote campaign and it goes against new restrictions involving requirement that voters show a foe toy id in the nation's oldest civil rights organization. it will not let recently enacted laws suppress the overall turnout. it's six minutes after 6:00 right now and today the charles village pub in towson will celebrate being back open for business. a fire destroyed the popular pub in january of last year you may remember and this morning abc2 news linda so is there live with more on the grand reopening and everything that's happening today. >> county executive kevin kamenetz will join the owners this morning for the grand

reopening at 11:302-6789 pub has been completely rebuilt. it's bigger and better and now even has the outdoor patio and a rooftop deck. fire recitied the bub back in -- destroyed the pub back in january. it sits on west pennsylvania avenue in towson and was a popular spot for the people and live and work in the area. the community rallied around the openers who decided to rebuild after the -- owners who decided to rebuild after the four. you'll see some familiar faces too. 20 workers from the original pub are back here. >> i want it to be something for everyone that everyone can come and have a great time. we have a fantastic menu. our kitchen staff is phenomenal and our wait staff and our bar tendsers are phenomenal. >> reporter: and that grand reopening is slated for this morning at 11:30. live in towson, linda so, abc2 news. for a special honor for rosa parks it turns out the national cathedral is planning to dedicate a new carving to

the pioneer but it's going to be in a section of the church devoted the human rights, it's going to be installed today with a ceremony, of evening prayer and song. the carving will join others on the human rights porch that celebrates those who have struggled to bring equality and social justice to all people. in annapolis they're not gearing up for next week's special session it starts on monday where lawmakers will be back at work finishing next year's fiscal budget. the state's top democrats say the budget will include new taxes for about 16% of you and me. >> better approach is the balanced approach. an approach of cuts, investments and yes, revenues to support those important ongoing investments. >> expect the sis to last three days -- session to last three days and another round coming this summer to focus on gambling. coming up tonight at 11:00, you are not the only one getting those red light or speed camera tickets in the

mail. it turns out thousands of them lands somewhere surprising. the mta. tonight at 11:00 our look at red light runners and speeders who work for the state. we examined thousands of tickets given to professional drivers who work for the maryland transit administration and found that they're putting you at risk in some dangerous behavior. >> my heart will be pounding i mean -- you know i'm like oh my god. is he going to hit that person? i'm more worried about the person in the vehicle than i am me because a bus hitting the car is to do damage to the person and not me. >> we're going to let you know who foots the bill when the mta drivers blow through a light. a headup for you tomorrow metro is planning weekend track work on the red, orange and blue lines that project will begin at 10:00 friday night. and may be delays of up to 20 minutes and plan accordingly. this morning a panel of experts from both inside and outside of baltimore city are looking for the replacements for police commissioner. now the "baltimore sun" is

reporting the search will not only be local and also a national search. commissioner announced last week he would retire in august after serving five years in that position and more than 30 years on the baltimore city police department. all right, going through the stages of pregnancy not always easy no doubt about it. sometimes it can be stressful. >> all right, coming up new studies now show what stress can do to the physical effects of you but also your child in the long run. details straight ahead. >> causes of cancer usually include smoking and sometimes diet but now doctors say certain infections can be cancer causing, we're going to tell you which ones. >> after a twister trashed their home. we'll have more on that in a bit. for now though a preview of our weather with lynette. >> all right charlie the rain has pushed out of here but i'm going to fell you if you're going to -- tell you if you're going to need the rain gear for mother's day or need the sun shades. all those details coming glum. up. >> a new accident on the beltway here at bel air road. i'll have the latest don delays coming up in -- on the delays

coming up in my abc2 timesaver traffic report. >> let's head that way. here's a poster. that's the new movie opening up this weekend. waist gong on in tech bites? >> reporter: in today's tech bites, the fire may have gone out of amazon's tablet. there was a big drop in kindle fire shipments in the first quarter more than 80%. there could be a number of reasons including saturation during the holidays. but it appears there's good news ahead for the kindle ereaders. the amazon website i wants that downloads of -- hints that downloads of the harry bother books will be sable -- potter books will be available commercially soon. they cited more than $1.5 billion in sales just last mor. a new customer satisfaction survey for online retailers. amazon received a record high score and apple was the number one computer and electronic site. a new robot vacuum cleaner does more than just clean your floors. sharp's cocoa robo also send

you text messages on its progress. watches your pet and even says ouch when it bumps into a wall but no it doesn't do windows. those are your tech bites, i'm sunny hostin.

well, clean-up will continue this morning in louisiana after a tornado touched down on wednesday. you can see pieces of the house littering the yard. the storm damaged at least seven homes and tossed around vehicles. like that trailer you just saw. now the tornado also knocked out power and many residents there are dealing without it but the electric company was able to restore it within a few hours it said.

well, spring storm hit the phoenix area wednesday. it brought wind, dust, hail and rain several homes were damaged. but no injuries have been reported at this time. we had a lot of rain here yesterday. nothing quite like that though. >> but we got some rain, with ennead the rain and still ned -- we need the rain but still need some more rain. still like 5.03 inches below y. >> that's incredible that's because we had no snow right? >> exactly. >> i could be a meteorologist. here you go. >> are you kidding? i couldn't. >> all right, lets me show you what we're dealing with today because we don't have the rain. the rain has pushed out. we are dealing with some reduced visibility issues because we have some patchy fog out there. we are at six in baltimore, that's been the scenario basically all morning long but we just had an update now in easton we were at four and now at five. we look like we're going on the right side of the track. but still, we do have some patchy fog and some problems out there so take it easy as you head out and about this morning. speaking out and about, let's

go out there and dundalk where we are seeing a little bit of patchy fog, you can barely see the key bridge back there. bel air more of the same. plenty of sunshine already working its way in the area. so i know this is what you like to see. do the fact that we have the rain, we needed the rain and now the sun levels are going to get in on some of the action as well. so not only do we have the patchy fog out there we are also looking at the winds kicking up through the rest of the morning and also this afternoon. right now they're sustained i'd say about 5 to 10 miles an hour and easton you have the update now. you were at zero for awhile and now you have a 6-mile an hour sustained winds and this will pick up and gust throughout the day. future trend not picking up on a whole lot except lots of sunshine as high pressure builds in and does its thing today, tomorrow and the day after that. the hour by hour forecast for today will struggle to get to about 70 degrees due to the fact that we have those winds out of the northwest. that is usually a chillier wind. check out what i have here, great picture by the weather watcher lester hudgens of

frederick. this is an awesome beautiful flower we're looking at here. send them to charles@wmar.com and include your name, the city you live in, and a brief description. let's get now a check of the traffic with lauren. good morning. good morning lynette. beautiful daffodils but not some beautiful out on the roads. we have dealing with several accidents, trouble in anne arundel county with a crash around the northbound lanes of route 295 right at route 198. if you are using the jfx watch out for another accident. we have all of that ongoing construction less than a mile from this location at 28th street. one lane is shut down in both directions falls road never a bad alternate route. more problems on the beltway. here's a live look in parkville. we are dealing with an accident on the outer loop here right between 95 and bel air road. a look at 83 just north of 695. fortunate the expressway is nice and clear but here's the

beltway shot in the parkville area so expect pretty heavy congestion traveling all the way up to charles street. that's a look at your abc2 timesaver traffic. megan and charlie, back over to you. two big international stories right now. this one out of syria where two strong explosions rocked the capital city of damascus this morning. more than 40 people are confirmed dead and close to 200 are wounded. right now in indonesia rescuers discovered the bodies of the russian made passenger plane that smacked into a vol day know with 45 people on board this morning. no word right now on the cause. the plane crashed 20 minutes after takeoff. all right guys listen up. doctors say they're now noticing an increase in throat cancer among seemingly healthy guys. "usa today" is reporting the cause is the human papillomavirus known as hpv. certain strains can live in the mouth and hpv isn't technically associated with men normally with women because infections often lead to cervical cancer.

there's a vaccine right now that prevents hpv. when we think about cancer- causing things, smoking, family history but listen to this. about two million people around the world develop cancer through preventable or treatable infections in 2008. the imfections responsible for most of the types of cancers were hpv or the human papillomavirus or hepatitis c and also certain stomach bacteria. important news this morning for expect stand moms. stress can affect your baby long-term. a new study finds that newborns who had mothers that were under stress during the first trimester may be at risk for iron deficiencies. >> and found that mothers that had high levels of stress correlated with lower levels of iron in the baby. why is this important? because low levels of iron in the bloodstreams as children have significant effects on our physical development as well as our cognitive development. >> consider additional

bloodwork before the well child visit and that would be sure the baby has enough iron. something to keep in mind. all right, on facebook this morning, we're talking about once against as we told you on monday, my wife and i are expecting our first child. >> a baby girl! >> yes, she's still being called bubbles but we're trying to work poo i can in there somewhere. >> cowson. >> my first child i'm scared to death. you have been telling me the things to remember on facebook. a few comments we want to share with you today. >> it's loading right now. basically james said get used to not sleeping for the next 18 years. and julie said enjoy every moment. so -- you also have to congratulations. my advice to you is really have a lot of fun with it. and also anything that's offered to you for free, take it. >> take it. >> take it. if somebody says i have somebody that you can have an extra saucer, take it. >> all right.

>> keep that in mind. >> let me know what you think. coming up tomorrow we have another question to ask you regarding my future. as a dad. you want to stick around for that as well. that's tomorrow but for today what's the one thing to remember about the whole she bang? >> best thing ever. very exciting. >> well, stay with us this morning, serious note an accident in boston. and police they were on the scene. they were quite surprised. >> all right, who police say was driving the car and why the accident is still under investigation. >> also ahead an alligator drew a lot of attention a huge audience to the streets of miami. where this guy came from and what it was trying to do so early in the morning. >> got to get to work.

welcome back. a bmw crashed into a house in boston and it hit with such force pieces of the porch they were wedged into the car. but that wasn't the biggest surprise for rescue crews called to the scene. you're not going to believe who was behind the wheel. >> they found out that an 8-

year-old adolescent got in the car, started the car up the street. and it jumped in reverse. he backed in and crashed into the building. >> now the child was not hurt. and the residents in that house also escaped without injury. but clearly the damage to the home and the foundation is extensive. now you want to see what's outside. this is only part of what was going on with this massive problem. >> this one in miami and it wasn't because of an accident. it was an alligator. an alligator is to blame. the gator was spotted trying to cross the road right near a school crosswalk. almost made it to the other side but then hit by a car and then captured by florida fish and wildlife conservation officers. >> pretty cool because he's -- never seen an alligator -- so and it just popped out of nowhere. >> well, after causing quite a scene officers were able to tape the mouth shut and cover its eyes and tape its legs before loading him on to a truck. time now for a look at our traffic and lauren not seeing anything like that out there. >> no gators on the road here

in maryland just a lot of accidents this morning. trouble in anne arundel county with a crash around 295 at route 198. this does it allows me to really zero in on the main trouble spots of your commute. if you are heading into baltimore city we have an accident on the jfx right along the southbound lanes at st. paul street. this system actually uses google slight images to show you exactly where the trouble spot is. it also allows you to -- it actually lets you now lounge it will take -- how long it will take to travel from point a. to point b.. you're in the green and looking at just a 15 minute ride from the beltway all the way to downtown baltimore. it monitors traffic flow so anything that you do see in the green, you are nice and clear. anything that turns yellow means moderate congestion and red of course means heavy. if you're traveling on 695 we are dealing with an accident. here's a live look right now in parkville. that outer loop really going to be jammed it's all due to the crash right between 95 and bel

air road. it will be slow all the way up to charles street. that's a look at your abc2 timesaver traffic. megan and charlie, back over to you. a tanorexic mom may not be so tan anymore. >> right now she might not have to go anywhere to get that tanned look. you're watching "good morning maryland." we'll explain why coming up next.